Windermere in the Lake District

Since we had been delayed by the accident and then by our long detour, we only had an hour to spend in Windermere, and that had to include our trip to the loo and our lunch. So we all bolted as soon as our coach came to a stop.

The village was on the shore of a tranquil lake, with many birds gathering around waiting to be fed by the tourists. They are not silly!  Why forage when someone can hand you your food on a silver platter, as it were . . . well . . .  on the ground before you! 

Quite a few of us walked up the steep hill to a fish and chip cafe our driver recommended. I was really pleased to at last taste British fish and chips, freshly cooked whilst we waited. By now the weather was cold and wet, so we enjoyed them all the more. They were Yum! 

I then needed to go to an ATM, but although there were supposed to be three further up the hill, one was out of cash, one refused to give money to anyone and the third was not to be found, despite the signs pointing to it. Talk about a wild goose chase! And all uphill. Hard to imagine a town full of tourists on a busy weekend would be so disorganised as to stop people from taking out money to spend, but there it is. However, the many shops and cafes looked most enticing and the village had a great charm about it, even though we now had only a few minutes to walk all the way back down to the coach.

We would have so loved another hour to so, especially to see the Beatrix Potter Museum. This is the village that celebrates that wonderful artistic woman who brought so much wonder and magic and sheer delight into the lives of children. It even has a story book trail for children which I am sure they must love, but I am afraid that all we saw - and very briefly at that - was a shop that sells Beatrix Potter toys, books and memorabilia. If you have not seen it, the film 'Miss Potter' brought her story to life in a most brilliant production.   It is very worth seeing. 

However, we had to get to the castle. As it was, we did not arrive there until 6.30 pm, with our special dinner booked for 7 pm. More of that in my next post.